The Object of My Desire
by BloodGoyle
Summary: When Miranda and her fiance, Alec, receive a brochure for the peaceful town of Silent Hill in the mail, they decide it will be the perfect place for their honeymoon.
1. Chapter 1 Deception

The Object of My Desire

Chapter One Deception

Welcome to Silent Hill!

Silent Hill, a quiet little lakeside

resort town. We're happy to have

you. Take some time out of your

busy schedule and enjoy a nice

restful vacation here.

Row after row of quaint old houses,

a gorgeous mountain landscape

and a lake which shows different

sides of its beauty with the

passing of the day, from sunrise

to late afternoon and sunset.

Silent Hill will move you and fill

you with a feeling of deep peace.

I hope your time here will be

pleasant and your memories will

last forever

...Miranda read the brochure again as she sat in the passenger seat of the car, Alec behind the wheel. Miranda was a pretty girl, young looking and with a small frame for her age of 25. She had short dark brown hair with calm green, compassionate eyes. Being quite timid, her apprehensive nature was the complete opposite of Alec's, laid-back and strong, he carried himself with dignity and self-respect. His dirty blonde hair always looked good, even though he never once took a comb through it. His blue eyes stared straight ahead.

They drove down the shiny wet road in silence, the only sound was the rhythmic beating against the windows of the rain pouring down, the windshield wipers keeping tempo. Miranda put the brochure back on the glove compartment, eyes straining to see in the dark. She leaned back on the seat and put her hands on her lap, trying to pull down the short frilly skirt she was wearing that had been riding up on her the entire ride. Losing interest in that, she began to examine the new ring on her left hand ring finger, the dazzling diamonds glittering radiantly. Alec noticed this and put his hand on her lap, wrapping his fingers around her hand.

"We're almost there..." he coaxed, sensing her tension.

"I've never been to Silent Hill... do you think it'll be a good place for our honeymoon?" Miranda asked in a soft voice, a little unsure of herself. Alec just smiled at her.

"That's why were checking it out first. You never know how truthful those brochures are," He joked. They drove for a while in silence, simply happy to be in the others company. The high beams of the cars headlights illuminated the raindrops hitting the road in front of them, a bright flash of lightning every now and then lighting the entire sky, followed closely by the roaring clash of thunder.

"I was thinking...where did you get this brochure for Silent Hill?" Alec asked, as if not caring until now.

"I got it in the mail... it seemed like a good place, peaceful... I hope we both can agree on this one..." she answered. As they continued down the road, the number of cars slowly decreased until they were traveling on a long narrow one-car path, not another car's headlights evident anywhere in the darkness. "I sure hope Lydia, Danny and Wade get there ok... you know how fast Danny drives... and when the roads are this wet..." Miranda trailed off.

"Don't worry! They'll be fine, you just worry too much." He added.

" I still think they should have ridden up with us, all of them together... they're so crazy...and to trust they won't goof off behind the wheel of a car-"

"Relax, Miranda," Alec said, laughing. She looked at him and smiled at his amusement, trying not to obsess over how irresponsible they all are capable of being.

"... You think Wade brought his skateboard?" She tried to change the subject away from herself.

"You should know your own brother better than me...but no. I _know_ Wade brought his skateboard. The thing's attached to his feet." Miranda laughed at his joke, her eyes once again wandering towards her left hand, gazing deeply into the breathtaking diamonds. A woman's best friend indeed, she thought to herself. She stared at her ring until sleep overcame her eyes and she nodded off, her head leaning against the window. Alec smiled and looked at her and back at the road a few times, wanting to watch her curled up and sleeping, but needing to keep an eye on the road. He put his jacket over her with one hand, the other on the wheel. She must be cold, he thought, she wasn't dressed for the weather at all. Wearing nothing but a short skirt and a shirt with no sleeves, that had a thin string that tied around her neck, leaving most of her back exposed, she really wasn't good at planning ahead.

Suddenly he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, in the road he should have been watching. He jerked his head back foreword again and tried to focus on it. The road was barely visible through the thick fog that seemed to come out of nowhere, masking the world outside of the car. The fog hung low on the ground, as if seeping from the ground itself.

Through the fog it appeared, the mist unveiling a shadowy figure directly in front of the car by merely a few meters. Alec slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting it, the wheels squealing and spinning on the slick street. The car couldn't stop in time as it swerved into the figure; it seemed to dissolve as they hit it, like steam blowing in the wind. Alec lost control of the car, trying vigorously to steer the car back on course as it fishtailed uncontrollably. His endeavor was in vain, the last thing he remembered was plowing through a chain-link fence and into something invisible through the dense fog.


	2. Chapter 2 Nightmare

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Two Nightmare

When Miranda awoke, she was lying down on her side on the hood of the car, her back against whatever they had crashed into. The car was badly wrecked; all of the glass was shattered in every window...Miranda came to the conclusion she had been thrown through the windshield... On closer examination inspecting her, she found she was unscathed, with only minor scrapes and bruises. Her arms were bleeding, but that was the worst of the damage done to her, as if something had broken through the windshield before her...

Rubbing her aching head, She looked into the driver's seat, only to scream out in horror. Alec was not there, but the hood of the car in front of the drivers seat was covered in bloody shards of the windshield, and a long streak of crimson was coming from where he once sat on the leather seat.

"Alec!!" She screamed, tears swelling behind her eyes at the thought of something happening to him. She sat up, looking around everywhere for him, but in vain; nothing was visible at all through the fog that loomed in the air. Stumbling off the car, she slowly stood up. Getting up too fast gave her a sudden overwhelming dizziness as it felt as if the ground were spinning. She tried to lean on the large object they had crashed into for support, but was caught off guard, missing the object by feet and plummeting backwards into a hole, feet sticking up in the air and arms flailing. She landed on her back, legs against the wall of the hole above her.

Slowly she stood up, the edge of the deep hole above her head by almost a foot. She reached up and with great difficulty, pulled herself out. It was then Miranda figured out what Alec's car was bent around. A huge gravestone facing the hole she had fallen into. Vines and ivy were growing up the sides and front of the stone monument. Slowly she knelt and brushed it aside,

Alec Joseph Cage

September 7 1985- April 14 2013

C.O.D

ME

She jumped back, gasping at seeing her fiancé's name on the epitaph.

"No... he's not... it cant be...." She muttered to herself, shaking off her dizziness, rubbing her temples with her thumb and forefinger. Seeing straight she double-checked the gravestone. Nothing had changed.

Shapes began to slowly come into focus through the fog. She squinted to see them all as shadows lined up one by one in a row, slowly unveiling themselves. The gravestones next to her was not the only one in the huge fenced-in area... she was standing near the outskirts of a seemingly old graveyard, filled with countless graves that varied in size. Most of them did not have an empty hole in front of them, only the last row she stood before where her fiancé's started the lineup.

She walked down the path cutting through the graveyard leading into the fog, in front of the row of graves with empty holes in front of them. The rest did not have as many vines and ivy growing up them and seemed to be newer. The three lined up next to Alec's were readable, despite the layer of grime and dirt covering them.

Lydia Kathryn Mitchell

February 28 1989- April 14 2013

C.O.D

TOO SLOW

Daniel Joshua Snider

August 12 1986- April 14 2013

C.O.D

CHIVALRY

Wade Jason Rivera

December 2 1986- April 14 2013

C.O.D

CAME BETWEEN US

Miranda was getting really freaked out. Why was there a row of empty graves, each one for her best friends? Her relief that they were still empty was short-lived, for the sheer terror of the situation was devastating. Was this some sick idea of a joke?! Under the 'cause of death' for each of the graves, what was written there seemed to be just recently and messily carved into the stone by a knife or something, very much unlike the fancy print of the rest of the tombstones.

The last grave on the row, however, made her stomach churn especially nauseatingly. The tombstone was blank, and the hole was empty, but something was scribbled on the stone in what could only be blood.

This is where you will end up

Miranda

If you don't love me

The choice is yours

She ran. She did not know where, just wherever her legs took her. She just wanted to get the hell out of that graveyard. She ran as fast as she could, which was surprisingly fast, given her sudden burst of adrenaline. She ran towards the hole in the fence made by Alec's car, and kept running. The graveyard behind her disappeared into the fog as she kept on, running in the middle of the road. Her muscles suddenly gave way, weakening from the unexpected sprint, and she fell foreword. Her knees and hands began to bleed profoundly from hitting the ground at such speed. Blood dripped down her legs as she slowly stood up. But she felt no pain. Everything seemed numb and cold. She looked at her hands. They... changed... she was paper-white and shaking, the blood pouring onto the ground from her hands.

What happened next caught her completely off-guard. She was in such a panic, running as if someone was on her tail, she did not hear the screeching tires in time. She looked up to see blinding headlights materialize out of nowhere, followed bye the sound of tires screeching as they slammed on the brakes seconds before she blacked out, the car inches away from her. The last thing in her memory was the white light blinding her, masking everything with white angelic light before everything became black.


	3. Chap 3 Not Alone

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Three Not Alone

Miranda awoke with a jolt, screaming. What the hell had just happened? She tried to get up, but didn't get as far as an inch off the crumpled hood of the car she lay on. Her face was pressed against the cold metal, a searing pain shot through her right arm. This time the car she was in had plowed completely through the grave that had once stopped it, the trunk sticking out of a deep hole. The hood of the car pinched her arm against the wall of the gravestone in the hole with them. Miranda let out a cry of pain as she wrenched her arm out slowly from in between the crushing metal and hard stone, sharp, piercing metal gouging her arm and leaving long gashes. She looked at her bleeding arm. It was pulsing warm blood out of the scrapes at a steady pace, much unlike when she had fallen in the road. She could remember how it seemed to pour out of her, as if she had no pulse, the blood freezing cold.

Gripping her arm tightly with her other hand, she sat up, unsettling the broken shards of glass she lay on from the windshield. Like before, Alec was gone, a stain of crimson taking his place in the driver's seat, dried-up splatters covering the left side of the car's hood. The rain had stopped now, allowing the blood to dry instead of washing it away.

Blood from her own wounds began to drip from her arm onto the hood of the car. She gripped her arm with her other hand to try and stop the bleeding. Feeling faint and somewhat dizzy, she slowly crept up the inclined car towards the back where it protruded from the hole. She stood up, leaning on the back of the car for support. She looked around. Alec had driven his car into his own grave.

Miranda walked the same path as before, the one that cut strait through the graveyard. She did not give any of the graves more than a brief glance, afraid of what she might find. Keeping her eyes to the ground, she slowly staggered on. She looked up to see where her legs had taken her, and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her. Not very far away was a truck, Dan's pride and joy, his Chevy Xtreme S10. The extended cab had been crushed inward like an empty can, the money and years of modifications put into that truck seemed all of a waste of time now, hardly recognizable through the twisted and crumpled metal that had been wrapped around a large gravestone. The life-size stone angel woman was knelt over, slightly at an angle from being hit by Dan. She was on her knees with her head down, praying, her hands together in front of her. She had two stone wings folded up behind her. Miranda was in a trance staring at her. A long, deep crack was going up the angel's entire body, spider web-like smaller cracks branching off of the main one. A single gash in the angel's face seemed to split it down the center, separating the two sides of her solemn face. As she stared into the angel's eyes, a single tear ran down the stone woman's cheek as is she were alive and could feel the collision in her side. Miranda unwillingly glanced at the epitaph. The only word she could make out through the cracks and chipped stone was one word; Evangelina. The grave in front of it was long since filled in, and was perfectly level with the ground around it from years and years of erosion and wearing down.

She tore her eyes off of the angel and back at the wrecked truck, the image having a more devastating effect, as if she had just witnessed each of her three best friends die in front of her. She stared open-mouthed and unblinking. Once the sight before her eyes sunk in, she ran over to the truck, and tried in vain to wrench open the doors. The doors were all so mangled and jammed it was impossible to get them open.

The windshield had been shattered, along with every other window. Looking in the front of the truck she could tell there was no one in the two front seats, thank god, but she could not see into the very back. If someone was still back there they were surely crushed, probably in two pieces. The only evidence that anyone was once inside the truck was the little bit of blood in the passenger seat and on the hood, not nearly as much as she had seen on Alec's car. Then they were all still alive...

Miranda backed away from the ruins of Danny's truck, looking around nervously.

"Danny! Lydia! Wade!!" She cried out, hoping someone was around and would hear her screams, or that her friends were still close by. Her calls fell flat, and faded out in the seemingly vast graveyard. Her pace quickened as she followed the same path through the graveyard, away from the truck. She kept her eyes down, glancing up every now and then at the gravestones. None of them seemed extravagant as the one that had caught Dan's truck, they all seemed bland and identical. Finally she came to a gate. She ran up to it, lacing her fingers through the metal fence and pushed, trying to force it open. The gate door clanged noisily, but did not open.

She looked up; ready to climb it, when something stopped her. Not the pain in her arm told her she should not climb it, but the fact that it was at least eight feet tall and barbed wire told her she could not. The barbed wire was facing towards her, as if it was put there to keep people out. Suddenly she was overwhelmed by a gut-wrenching feeling, every part of her body felt cold and weak. She lost control of her muscles as an ear-splitting noise filled her head, a loud screaming roar. She dropped to her knees, crying out in pain. It felt as if something was being torn from within her. Again she felt no pulse from the blood pouring out of her arm, and for a split second she blacked out.

When she opened her eyes, she was back to normal, still on her hands and knees on the ground. But the noise in her head had stopped, and the coldness had left her. She caught her breath, panting for no apparent reason. As she slowly stood up, the metal gate had been ripped from its hinges and lay flat on the ground in front of her. Both she and the fallen gate was surrounded in a puddle of cold water, Miranda was drenched from head to toe. Her wet hair clung to her face and made her shiver. Her eyes were open wide and startled as she looked around, confirming she was indeed alone. A single, long feather drifted down from the air, and landed in the puddle. Miranda could tell the feather had once been white, but was now stained with dark colors. It sunk in the puddle, to the very bottom, and did not float as most feathers do in water. Hesitantly, she stepped onto the gate and walked over it, into where the barbed wire had warned her not to. There was a long dirt path, clouded with fog and surrounded by thick trees. She dare not venture off the path, but continued down it for what seemed like a long time.

Constantly filled with the paranoia that someone was following her, the same someone who had ripped the gate off, she walked faster than normal. The blood had slowed and now just barely dripped through her fingers clenched around the wound on her arm. After a while she came to another gate, but a much lower one that opened when she pushed it. It creaked loudly, the hinges rusted and old, but it still opened without much of a fight. Through the fog she could make out buildings and streets. The wind howled gently in her ears, yet the fog was unaffected and hung low on the abandoned streets. She was the only person anywhere as far as she could see or hear. As she walked alone down the wide lonely roads, looking around at the run-down buildings and homes she had never felt so vulnerable and lost.


	4. Chapter 4 Follow the Leader

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Four Follow the Leader

Moldy and ripped billboards were on the side of one road, opposite the buildings. She strained her eyes to see through the layers of grime as she read them each.

Welcome to Silent hill!

Silent Hill Amusement park

Next right on Nathan Ave.

With the exception of the 'Welcome to Silent Hill!' message, the billboards each pointed out the locations of a vacation spot or resort. She continued down the roads that appeared to be endless, the signs guiding her towards the Amusement Park. On the way, something caught her eye. The door on the side of a building on the corner was partially open; a strange reddish light was coming from inside it and shone in a streak on the ground. Miranda examined it from across the road, and cautiously stepped into the middle of the road, nearing the light that had her in a trance. The sound of a car engine broke the silence of her mind as she bolted her head around to see two blaring headlights coming at her. The car seemed to pick up speed, racing faster and faster towards her. Miranda could not see who was behind the wheel. The car suddenly swerved; missing her just barely and plowing into the building she had been walking towards, stopping immediately on impact. The engine cut off and began hissing, smoke rising from the under the dented hood.

Both the doors opened, as a man got out of the driver's seat and a woman got out of the passenger seat.

"What the hell are you thinking?! I could sense from a mile away that it was her!!" The woman yelled. She seemed to be in her late twenties, as did the man. She had blonde hair that came past her shoulders and a wicked expression on her face. The man seemed unfazed and calm, as he brushed off his sleeves "Why on earth did you try to run her over?! ... Answer me!!" The man sighed, not looking at the woman.

"You must be joking! You need to get your head examined if you think that's the one." He ran his fingers through his brown hair, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You keep living in your little fantasy world, Claudia. Well, I've had enough. Do whatever you want... just leave me out of it-" The man spoke coolly, not having to raise his voice to get his point across. He started to walk away from Claudia, in the direction of Miranda.

"Wait!! Vincent, you-!!" Claudia yelled. "Fine! You'll burn in Hell anyways, I don't need you! I have all I need... right here..." She looked at Miranda, examining her, suddenly more calm and collected. Vincent sneered irritably, and glared at Miranda out of the corner of his eye as he passed her. Emotions stirred within Miranda she could not explain as soon as their eyes met, even if it was only for a second.

"If I were you, I'd get as far away from this madwoman as I can..." He muttered under his breath, and with that, disappeared into the fog. The woman named Claudia walked up to Miranda, her long black jacket blowing smoothly behind her. She smiled for the first time Miranda had seen, maintaining her wicked expression all the while. She examined Miranda still, as if she recognized her.

"I don't believe I got your name..." She said kindly, her voice not matching up with her devious face. It took a while for Miranda to realize she was talking to her.

"...Miranda..." She said tentatively, watching the woman. Claudia repeated the name, saying it twice slowly, as if scanning her memory for someone of that name.

"...That's a very beautiful name..." She spoke slowly. She paused, her face concentrating on something. "...You... don't remember me?" She asked, but then smiled. "So she has no idea... it should be easier this way... for now..." The woman said to herself. "I... Am Claudia." Suddenly Miranda's head started hurting, then the pain spread throughout her entire body. She felt cold and weak again, her muscles freezing up. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth in pain, falling to her knees. Looking up at Claudia, she seemed very content as she walked away into the fog, turning a corner and disappearing. As soon as she was out of sight, the pain stopped. It was eerily quiet. Miranda got back up to her feet, unsure of where to go now. Part of her really wanted to go in the direction the man had, but she was conflicted with a feeling she should follow Claudia.

She ran to the corner Claudia had turned, but she was nowhere to be found. There was no trace of her, no sound of footsteps or a shadowy figure walking away down the road. The only sound was the soft hissing of the smoke rising from under the hood of their car a few feet away. Miranda's curiosity of the man overcame her suspicions of Claudia; she turned around and began to walk down the road he had taken. She did not spy any signs telling her which road she was on, but she continued down it, determined to find him.

As she walked alone, a sound behind her made her turn around suddenly. To her left and behind her, the sound of a door being thrust open and banging into a wall made her jump. She walked towards it, towards the only building which seemed to not be falling apart and crumbling as much as the others. The front two double doors to a large building were open wide, creaking back and forth and banging into the sidewall from the wind. Miranda walked up a few steps and peered inside. It was very dark and she could hardly see anything more than a few feet in front of her. A distant sound of a gunshot alerted her, as the gun was fired over and over. When it stopped, the building was silent again, except for the scraping doors.

Miranda thought about calling out to whoever was there, it could be the man she was chasing. But when she opened her mouth to shout, nothing came out. She was so scared, she could not bring herself to make him aware of her presence. Slowly she walked all the way inside and began to travel down the hallway the gunshots had come from, the only light was coming from the open front doors that still creaked and banged noisily. Her footsteps echoed throughout the empty corridor, no matter how lightly she tried to step. Doors passed her on both sides, but she didn't even try to open them. She listened intently for footsteps of someone else, or a door opening so she would know where to go. But she had never felt so alone.

Just then she stepped on something that felt like a pile of wet carpet, it squished when she put her weight on it accidentally. Immediately she removed her foot and looked down. What could only be described as a monster lay in a bloody heap before her, but it was slowly moving up and down, as if it were breathing...

It happened so fast, she was not prepared. The monster jumped up, onto two feet. It struggled against invisible restraints and hissed and moaned, bleeding profusely. Miranda screamed and tried to back up, but fell backwards, inching away as fast as she could. The monster suddenly fell on top of her. She kicked it away and jumped to her feet, her heart pounding in her chest. She backed up, but the monster seemed to be dead. It no longer moved, just lay there in a puddle of it's own blood. Without thinking she brought her leg back and kicked it as hard as she could. It did not flinch.

Miranda walked around it, with her back against the wall, not wanting to get too close again for fear it might wake up. She continued down the hallway at a quicker pace, looking over her shoulder every now and then, her heart not slowing down. She stopped before she got to the end of the hallway, spotting a door that was cracked open slightly. She pushed it open and ran in faster than she meant, paranoia of the monster she just saw making her want to get out of that hallway. But she walked in to an even more sickening sight.

She didn't even have time to look at the room around her before a nauseating sight of three more monsters froze her body in place, she was unable to move. One monster, bigger than the other two and looking very odd with its pyramid-shaped head, looked like it was brutally hurting and doing nasty things to the other two. The looked helpless as they wailed and hissed, despite they had no heads and no visible signs of gender. Miranda's scream was cut off short by someone grabbing her arm and pulling her into a small closet. The sight of the three monsters was still visible through the louvers and still just as loud and disturbing. They did not seem to notice her, and it they did, they were too busy to care.

Miranda was pressed up against someone, a man, maybe the one from before. Within a few seconds the two monsters being raped were dead, and lay motionless on the ground. The other one looked right at them, even though it had no eyes it seemed to be staring into her soul. It walked slowly towards the closed, moaning loudly. Miranda backed up into the man, wanting to put as much distance between her and the thing as possible. The sound of him snapping a clip into the gun clicked over the moaning and he fired all the bullets through the louvers and pumped them into the monster. Chips of wood broke off the thin closet door, making bullet holes and ripping the louvers to shreds. The monster stopped, losing interest in the closet and walked away, out the door. They waited in silence for a while, listening for the footsteps of the returning monster, but there were none.

The man opened the door and they both got out of the closet. Miranda turned around to see a man she had never met before, but seemed oddly familiar.

"You're not...." She began, muttering to herself. "...Who are you...?" She examined the man who had saved her. He was tall, had blonde hair and wore a dark green jacket spotted I blood, like herself.

"...James..." He said. He did not look directly at her at first, but looked around the room, down at the dead monsters and towards the door nervously, and with good reason. When he did look at her is was only briefly, but he had a double take, his eyes lighting up for a split second. He eyed her up and down, examining her. She was a little uneasy at this, but didn't know how to react to it. ".... When did you cut your hair...?" This question caught Miranda off guard. What does that matter?!

"...It's always been short, since I was little..." She replied. James seemed to loose interest in her at this, but still stared.

"...Oh." He said flatly, his voice deep with sorrow. Miranda tried to figure this guy out, but just decided that if he wanted her help he would have asked for it. It was none of her business anyways, and she shouldn't go butting into other people's problems. She decided to change the subject and say something she should have from the start.

"I'm Miranda... Thanks for saving me..." She bowed her head slightly and timidly, her shy nature causing her to back up without even realizing it. Trying to be friendlier, she spoke to him again. "You... haven't seen anyone else around here, have you? A guy- brown hair..." She stopped abruptly, realizing she was more interested in finding the man she had met earlier than her own fiancé...

"No... sorry. Is he a friend of yours?" James asked patiently, still staring at her.

"So... you haven't seen _anyone_ around here...? ...Not anyone-?" Miranda asked, her heart sunk.

"No one but monsters... I haven't been here very long... but already I want to leave... but... but not before... I find..." He trailed off.

"Find who?" Miranda disobeyed her motto of not forcing her way into someone else's problems, but relaxed a little, taking comfort in finding someone else in Silent Hill as lost as she.

"My... late wife. She died of that... damned disease... three years ago..." He spoke slowly, his voice dropping. "But, I got a letter..." He seemed suddenly full of hope. "She told me she was waiting for me here..." It was such a pathetic and unbelievable story, but Miranda sympathized with him. James started to walk away, out the door the monster had left through. He obviously figured she thought he was a freak and didn't want to waste any more of her time.

"Wait!" Miranda was surprised at her own sudden outburst. James stopped in the doorway, turning to face her with an expression that said 'yeah? What do you want?' "You... You're not just going to leave me...like that...alone... what if the monster comes back? What'll I do?" She stammered desperately, frightened of being alone in this town.

"Here.... Use this," He held out his hand with a revolver in it. Miranda hesitantly took it.

"But what about you?" She tried franticly to keep him close by.

"I have two... I gave you the... good one... don't lose it... I expect to get it back..." and with that he left, and began to walk down the corridor. Miranda ran to the doorway and watched him leave without a backwards glance. She stepped out onto the hallway but was stopped by James. "...Don't follow me..." His voice was a little harsher than need be, and Miranda withdrew back into the room. What was his problem? What made him act like that to her after that had just only met? Everyone here seemed to know her somehow... like the conversation Claudia had with that man... What was his name? Claudia had said it... What's going on this town?


	5. Chapter 5 Never Sleeps

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Five Never sleeps

Miranda stepped back into the room, not ready to face the world outside it yet, and examined the gun. She had never held a gun before, but somehow it just felt natural, holding it in her left hand despite the fact she was right-handed and did almost everything with that hand. On closer examination of the revolver, she noticed that it was a left-handed gun; the release for the chamber was on the right side, easy to flip with her left thumb to reload. She opened the chamber, not having a clue how she knew any of this about guns. The revolver was a six-shot, and was already loaded with six bullets. She snapped the chamber back, keeping the gun in her hand at all times as she left the room. The sickening image of what she had witnessed in this room was forever burned into her memory...

As she walked down the hallway, she was certain to keep a watchful eye out in all directions, she was especially aware of any noise that may come from behind. Right now she was only concerned with getting out of this apartment building. But her friends could be here, too... or Alec... well, wherever they were, she hoped she found someone soon... Being alone in Silent Hill was the most terrifying thing she could imagine... Well, at least it's not _completely_ deserted...

She continued down the hallway she had come from and passed the dead monster that had reared up and attacked her, keeping her gun ready the entire time. The only thought in her mind was to find someone, anyone, before another monster found her. She did not know how long six bullets could protect her. But more thoughts crossed that one, questioning everyone she had met so far; everyone in this town seemed... creepy and abnormal, and she could not identify exactly why. Nothing made sense anymore... There's no such thing as monsters, yet here she is running from them, praying she doesn't find anymore. Even finding James again would be better than crossing paths with them...

After walking around for a long time, Miranda came to the conclusion that she was lost, again. Aimlessly wandering around had not scored any points this time. Well, not like it had before... There was one room that had no door, instead it lay flat on the ground, ripped from the hinges. She walked in, not hearing any noise from inside. The room was empty, and very, very messy. Dresser drawers were left hanging open, some had fallen out of the dresser altogether. A few clothes were left wrinkled inside and on the ground, but almost all of the drawers had been completely emptied, like someone left in a hurry and had no time to clean up, or maybe just weren't planning on coming back.

She roamed around the room, rummaging around and moving bloody shirts over with her shoe. Something caught her eye at the counter in the kitchen. There was a note and something sitting next to it. It looked like...a doll?

My Dearest Miranda,

So you got my brochure in the mail, and decided to come to Silent Hill. It was not my idea, but once she showed me a picture of you I just had to have you, and bring you here any way I could. Oh, Miranda, you love me too! That's why you came. I wish you could see me now, for I am always watching you. I made this doll for you, Miranda. We can be together soon, my love, just be patient. I have been waiting forever...

Stanley Coleman

Miranda backed away from the letter, disgusted and not even wanting to go near that revolting doll. Stanley Coleman? Who the hell was that? What a freak...

Leaving both the letter and the doll sitting on the table, She left the room with the same paranoid feeling someone was watching her, but it was stronger now. She ran down the corridor, looking for the way out of this nightmare. Finally she heard the scraping and banging noise of the front doors blowing back and forth in the wind, and saw the dim light shining in from outside. She ran towards it, picking up speed. Once she got there, she skidded to a halt in the wide doorway.

A high-pitched deafening howl was carried through her, blown by the cold wind and left ringing in her ears. Standing in the middle of the street was a pack of bandaged, bloody, flesh-torn dogs. They were crowded around a body, a pool of crimson seeping out from under it, and ripping the flesh from its bones. None of the dogs seemed to have noticed her yet, but the shock of this scene was still sinking in on Miranda, and she didn't move out of plain view. Suddenly one looked up from its feast, bloody pieces of flesh hanging out of its mouth. It howled once, alarmingly loud, bending its head back and facing the sky. All the other dogs looked at it briefly, as if listening to what it had to say. All as one, they turned to face Miranda simultaneously. In a split second, they all forgot about the half-eaten corpse in front of them and bolted towards the apartment building she stood in the doorway of.

Her initial reflex was to _run_. But they would follow her into the corridors and hunt her down, there was no way she could outrun a pack of dogs. Quick thinking, she stepped out of the doorway, grabbing both double-door handles and pulling towards her, closing the massive doors. The doors scraping against the ground sounded over the ravenous barking and growling of the dogs as the distance between them diminished. The doors were almost all the way closed when the fastest dog reached her before the others, and tried to squeeze through the crack to her. It stuck its head through first, as it barked it spewed out spit and blood. Miranda lifted one of her legs, bringing the bottom of her foot down onto the dog's face. It brutally forced him out of the doorway just long enough for her to close the doors. Still she did not let go of the handles, for fear they would somehow get inside.

For a few minutes she did not move, but felt the pounding in her chest not from her racing heart, but from the dogs ramming the barricades hard. The sturdy metal doors did not fail, however, and she slowly backed up and the hammering on the doors became less and less frequent. The dogs eventually gave up, but were probably still waiting for her outside, maybe they went back to their meal. She couldn't risk even cracking the door to peek, however, for they were most likely keeping an eye on it in case she did. She would have to find another way out...

She leaned against the far wall facing the doors, waiting for her heart to slow and her knees to stop shaking. She was feeling very light-headed and dizzy, maybe from all the blood that she had just witnessed spilled, as well as her own from her arm. Her shirt and skirt were splotched with blood that made her feel sick. A little of the blood soaked through her clothes on her side was from her arm that had stopped bleeding for the most part, but her lightheadedness only got worse. Her loss of blood and being spectator to all this, was making her feel tired... The room was suddenly sideways, all the doors horizontal instead of vertical. Miranda realized it was only her falling; the room had not changed at all as she hit the ground hard, the dark room getting even darker until there was nothing left.


	6. Chapter 6 Secrets and Lies

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Six Secrets and Lies

"That's her..." A feminine voice sounded through the dark room lit by only a lamp in the corner. A woman and a man, both with blonde hair, stood around the table with the lamp in the middle. The woman was showing him a picture of a girl. She had long black hair and bright green eyes. "That's her..." she repeated solemnly, her voice serious.

'Why do you want _my_ help? I'm here for reasons of my own, I don't have time to go looking for her-" The man said harshly, managing to keep his deep voice quiet and monotone.

"I know why you're here..." The man did not look up from studying the picture of the beautiful girl. "You want your Mary back." The man suddenly bolted his head up and stared her in the eyes, his mouth hung open.

"How do you know Mary?!" He demanded and stood up straight.

"You help bring back this girl, and I'll bring back your Mary..." The man watched her with wide eyes.

"You didn't answer my question! How do you know Mary?!" He stepped closer to her, but she did not back up or show any signs of apprehensiveness.

"When you find her, bring her to the chapel... If you do this for me, I _will_ bring back your Mary... She can be resurrected once god has been born... born from this girl..." The man nodded and left, not saying a word. Once he left through the door, another man came inside. He had brown hair, and didn't look happy.

"What was that all about?!" He demanded harshly.

"Listening through the door, Vincent? How like you-"She said smugly. "It was merely a precaution, in case she will not come with _us_ willing..." Vincent closed his mouth and frowned at her. "Now, come on. We haven't a moment to lose. Our goddess is waiting..." The evil woman left the room, followed by a scornful Vincent. They both neared a parked car. The woman pulled out a set of keys and began to walk towards the driver's seat.

"_I'll_ drive." Vincent snatched the keys from her hands and unlocked the driver's seat, reaching across the seats and unlocking the passenger side as the woman walked around and got in.

"You drive like a maniac..." She protested but did not disobey, closing the door behind her. Vincent grinned slightly as he turned the key in the ignition and the car started.

"At least i dont drive like an old lady," His mood seemed to take a sudden lift, going from dissaproving and detesting to cynical and oddly pleased. The woman glared at him as they pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive down the road. A few minutes later, a small figure stood in the road before them, a girl with short black hair.The woman smiled.

"Ah, we've found her..." She said somberly. Vincent did not slow down. The woman stopped smiling, glancing from the road to the look of sorrowful hate on Vincent's face. "What are you doing?! Vincent, stop this car _now_!!" She ordered, only to have Vincent step harder on the gas. They were getting dangerouly close to the girl, who had just now noticed them.. She threw her arms in front of her face to block out the blinding light from the high beams. It was too late for her to react in any way that could save her fom being killed by Vincent. In a panic, the woman reached for the wheel, and turned it towards her. The car swerved, narowly missing the girl and plowing into a nearby building...


	7. Chapter 7 Dreamscape

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Seven Dreamscape

Miranda awoke in the same place, but shivering. She sat up, soaking wet in cold water, a large puddle around her was soaking into the carpet and squishing whenever she shifted her weight. A few stained white feathers were submerged in the puddle, the white almost visible through the grime and dried blood that covered them. Slowly she stood up, the water drenching her from head to toe, and she quickly felt her muscles stiffen and weaken. With her arms crossed in from of her to keep them from shaking, she noticed the two double doors that served as the barrier between her and the dogs had been ripped from the hinges. They lay strewn on the steps outside. But if the dogs were outside and forced their way inside, shouldn't the door be busted open towards her? It was as if something was inside with her and ripped the doors down to leave, not come in...

The dogs had ventured inside, too, and were wandering the halls, spread out and looking for food. None of them had even noticed her despite she was standing right next to them, her scent all over the corridors. They seemed to be sniffing that scent, trying to locate her. Miranda held her breath, wondering why they had not yet seen her. She picked up a large peice of glass from the flourescent light above her that had chipped and a few peices were on the floor. Raising it slowly above her head, she chucked it down the hallway as far as she could. Every dog perked up it's ears and ran towards it, barking, making horrible noises. She ran for the doorway, trying not to step on the fallen doors, they would make too much noise. Now outside, her frozen legs carried her much slower than normal, stumbling every now and then. She was so cold she could see her own breath, her wet hair stuck to her face and clothes clung to her body. Her sneakers were soaked through and through, her socks squished quietly as she ran through the empty streets.

Suddenly the fog seemed to worsen, getting so thick she thought she was going blind. She could not see in any direction, but she kept running. If something was feet in front of her, she wouldn't know until she hit it the fog was so thick. After she thought she could run no more, the fog slowly lifted, revealing a normal town, just like any other. Had she just left Silent Hill? No, she recognized the names of the streets and buildings... but... suddenly, everything was not run-down and bloody, but the sky was actually visible, there was no fog anywhere to obstruct her view of it. She had never thought about what Silent Hill had probably looked like before it was abandoned, or, whatever the hell happened to it.

The sky had only a few clouds in the sky, the bright orange and pink sunset that shone through the white was beautiful. Visible rays of the sun parted the clouds and desended down towards the town. As she was looking up, admiring the sky she had missed for so long, she saw something... It looked like a person, flying, with white feathery wings spread wide. Her long black hair drifted behind her, blowing in the wind down to her waist as she flew away. She was very high up in the air, she slowly descended towards a building in the distance. She dissapeared out of sight as she climbed in the window, leaving a trail of a few beautiful white feathers that hovered in midair before gently falling down towards the streets.

Miranda walked in the directing the flying woman had taken, towards a building in the distance. She walked for a long time, the sun setting more and more beyond the horizon. With every step she felt as if she was going to collapse, her legs got weaker and weaker the closer she got to it, the feeling of cold and wetness getting worse, despite the fact she should be drying off by now. It was nearly dark when she got to the front of the building. She fell over onto her knees, catching her breath. She looked up at the building as her vision began to blurr. Directly in front of her was... a hospital? It looked brand-new, the white paint bright, nothing broken at all. The doors and windows were closed.

She forced herself to her feet, and staggered to the double-doors in the front. She tried hard to pull them open, but they were stuck or locked. Who would lock the door to a hospital? Unless it hadn't been opened yet or was still under renovation, not finished... Miranda lost the last of her strenght and fell over, letting the coldness overwhelm her into sleep.


	8. Chapter 8 Somebody Save Me

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Eight Somebody Save Me

Miranda awoke with a jolt, a strange feeling someone was with her filled her mind. She looked around, no one was there. She was still soaking wet, but she could feel the warmth of her body beginning to dry her off a little. Nightfall made it colder outside, the fog was dimmer as the night set in, however unnoticable it may appear in this town. Her muscles were working once more, but she still felt exhausted, both mentally and physically. Had she just had a dream? Maybe she was sleepwalking at the same time... It felt fake, like a dream, like she wasn't actually there... But maybe she had been... Just not then... All this was starting to make her head hurt...

The town was back to being a run-down dump, foggy, abandoned, and lonely. She was still in front of the hospital, and sure it was the same one... 'Brookhaven Hospital', the moldey sign read...but it was just as run-down and dilapidated as the rest of this town. The paint on the buiding was still white, but dull, stained with dark red and grime. The front doors were left wide open, as Miranda got up and checked them, the lock mechanism had been broken as well as the doornobs. She walked in, looking around. It was dark in here, too, just like the apartment building. Something wanted her to come in here, it was pulling her in. She obeyed the feeling, slowly creeping in causiously. She was in the front lobby, doors surrounding her on the walls, some open, some broken and refusing to budge.

The room to her direct left had no door, just an empty doorway. It was the main lobby where the receptionist would normally be. On the wall was posted an old filthy map of the hospital, it was bigger than she had imagined. At closer examination, she noticed a strange marking on a room on the third floor. It was a little drawn-on picture of a heart in room 312. It looked oddly familiar as she stared at it for a long time. A solitary trickle of dark crimson blood dripped down the map, separating the heart down the middle. Miranda backed up, following the stream of blood to the the ceiling, where it dripped down steadily. The ceiling above the map was soon soaked in the red, blood flowed down the wall and covered up the entire map. It was beginning to soak into the floor beneath her where it dripped from the ceiling. She quickly left the room, averting her eyes from the sickening sight.

Outside of the room, she noticed it was a lot darker inside... The double doors that were left wide open were now closed. She tried to open them, but someone had locked them... She hadn't heard anyone come in or leave...

She wandered the lobby a bit longer, trying random doors, most being broken or jammed closed. A door with a small gold-plated sign reading 'Break Room' had no doornob, and she pushed it open. The coffee machine was on and busy making a half-full pot, a cup of coffee was left on the table in the center of the room, steam rising from the warm surface. Next to the coffe was another note, and next to it, a doll. Miranda thought about not reading it, but curiosity overcame her.

My Dearest Miranda,

I hope this coffee warms you up, the heater in this building it broken and you're not wearing but a skirt and shirt. I told them not to mess with it, but they insisted the system needed tweaking. Stupid doctors... their medical degree won't help them fix a heater, I told them, but they just ignored me, like everyone here, or rather, used to be here. Well, some are still here, I'm surprised you haven't seen any yet. Maybe they just don't want to show themselves, they haven't recognized you yet, that crazy lady told me. But I dont know why anyone wouldn't want to see you, I would in a heartbeat...

Why didn't you take the doll I made for you? Are you embarrased? You're so cute, Miranda. Soon we can be together, forever... Goodbye for now, my love...

Stanley Coleman

Not him again... Creep... Miranda didn't even think aobut touching that disgusting doll or the coffee, she would never put anything from this town to her lips. Miranda left the room, regretting she let herself read the note.

After trying a few other doors in the lobby without any luck, she found the door to the stairwell open a crack. She pushed it open all the way, and slowly walked up a flight of stairs, seeing a dim streak of red light from the door to the second floor. She opened it and went in it, following the strange red glow to another cracked door to the left, the one that should be right above the receptionist room... She opened the door to find a man standing in the middle of the room, his back to her. He had shaggy black hair and was extremely tall. He turned slowly at hearing the door creak open, turning away from a lamp on the bedside table that shone red. His green eyes were wide, and on the ground under his feet was a skateboard. He gasped at seeing her.

"Miranda!" He said in his usual deep voice. He was not smiling, but a frightened look retained on his face.

"Wade! You're alive!" She started towards him, but a horrific mental image stopped her. She clamped her hands over her ears to stop the screaming and harsh noises that filled her head as she saw her brother lying dead on the ground, blood covering everything. The noise stopped in a split second, she was on her knees in the room with him again. He bent over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"You ok?" He said casually, his strong, deep voice overpowering his frightened appearance.

"....Fine..." She said, and stood up next to him.

"Hell of a place to pick as yer honeymoon, there, Miranda... Now I got bigger problems than just my little sister getting married before me... Like staying alive..."

"Have you seen anyone? ...Besides me, that is," She interupted.

"Yeah... Me, Dan and Lydia came in here after crashin into that gravestone, Dan was pretty damn pissed... We found some...thing... It wasn't human, I don't care if I sound crazy, but it attacked us... What the hell is going on in this town?! Fuck it, man, I just wanna leave-" Wade was cut off by a growl coming from the door. They both turned around to see a giant, _monster_... They each emmediatly backed up, the thing barely fit through the door. It was huge, it's bloody arms like two big bludgeons, dragging the large end across the ground. It's face was twisted and jerked around as it growled and snarled menacingly.

Miranda finally snapped out of her state of shock much fater than Wade, and pulled out her gun, shooting it a few times. The monster didn't even flinch. It lifted one of it's massive arms and sideswiped it into her, knocking her into the side wall with a loud crash and leaving a noticable dent. She dropped her gun, it clanged loudly on the ground as she frantically searched for it, the monster nearing her brother faster and faster by the second.

A long, thin needle-like blade suddenly petruded out of the monster's arm, he brought it back and readied to thrust it into Wade. He grabbed the only thing close to him; his skateboard, and chucked it at the monster's misshapen face. The board hit its mark, throwing the monster off balance, so the spike just barely missed his chest, but stabbed his arm instead. Now angry and perturbed, the monster withdrew its arm back and thrust it again at Wade, faster than either him or his sister could have guessed how fast that thing could move, judging by its earlier display of sluggish movements.

The blade hit its mark this time, right in Wade's chest, impaling him against the wall. His blood dripped down it, soaking the wall and floor. Miranda screamed, gun in her hand and shaking, she fired again and again into the creature that was killing her brother. It completely ignored her, letting his limp body fall to the floor as he began to devour it, ripping his flesh off the bone with sharp fangs. Miranda shot it until her gun made a hollow clicking noise, and still the thing refused to acknowladge her presense. She had no bullets to reload with, her only options were to run, closing the door behind her and hope it would take it a while to catch up to her, or wait here for a death alongside her brother, watching it rip him to shreads. She chose the third option, the one most begging for a painful death.

Miranda ran up to the monster and kicked it as it crouched over Wade. It flinched, looking up from it's meal and starring straight at her. With another great swing of it's mighty arms, it thrust her out of the way and back into the wall, where she hit it hard and fell to the ground once more. It was blocking her only escape throught the door and knew this, saving her for when it finished with Wade. His blood was now covering everything, surrounding the hole in the wall from the blade, soaking into the floor and being splashed onto the walls as the monster messily tore him apart.

Something inside Miranda surfaced as she pulled herself to her feet, her entire body aching with the pain of Wade's tortured death. The monster seemed to recognize this, and looked up from his meal. For the first time Miranda thought she saw an emotion shown on the beast's face; pure terror. Despite the fact she was getting weak and cold again, she felt more alive than she ever had. Vengeance filled her eyes that peirced into the monster. She did not feel as if she were to faint this time, but chills ran up and down her spine, so cold it felt like someone poured a bucket of ice water down the back of her shirt. That coldness ran through her veins to her heart, and in a matter of seconds her brother had been avenged, although she couldn't quite say how. She felt it's warm blood on her cold hands as she stood above the corpse of her brother's killer.

She backed up, afraid of what she had become. She knew less of what was happening to her than what was happening to the town. Uncertainty was her worst enemy now. She fell to her knees and cried, pulling her brother's half-eaten corpse away from his killer's. She pulled him to the corner, tears streaming down her face. She sat next to him for a long time, crying quietly as not to disturb the other patients.


	9. Chapter 9 Vincent

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Nine Vincent

Miranda emerged from the room slowly, wiping tears from her face with the back of her hand. She closed the door behind her, and leaned against it as she contemplated what to do now. Her brother was dead. She had tried in vain to save him, and mourned his death. Knowing that she had avenged him made her feel slightly better about losing him, but it felt like a part of her had died along with him. The part that told her killing was bad had left her now, she decided to suck it up and do what must be done from now on.

She stood straight up, and walked back towards the stairwell. Her gun was still in her hand, despite she could not use it. It had avenged her brother and she would never lose it.

Back in the stairwell, she went up another floor. She cautiously searched for room 312, stepping lightly and breathing softly so she wouldn't attract anymore unwanted guests. If she spotted them first, she could avoid them and survive. She entered a long hallway, starting with room 301. 312 must be near the very end. She picked up the pace a little out of nervousness, the feeling inside her telling her to run returning. Her brisk walk became a full-out run as, seconds later, the wall beside her was crushed, something forcing its way through. It would have surely emerged in front of her if she had not been running, and caught her off guard. She ran as fast as she possibly could, room 312 nearing. She could hear whatever it was behind her running to catch up with her, making horrible noises.

She crashed into the door, it being open her only chance of survival. She wrenched it open and slammed it closed behind her. The sound of the monster had ceased. It was completely quiet now, except for her panting, trying to catch her breath.

"...Miranda, is it?" A gentle male voice said calmly. Miranda looked up, her bloodshot and red eyes finding the same man with brown hair she had been following all this time. He was sitting at a desk in the middle of the room. This room, lined up with the patient's rooms, was definitly not for the sick patients. There was no bed, the only peice of furniture in the room was the desk he sat at so calmly.

Miranda said nothing, just watched him, still out of breath. She did not know what to say to him, the event with her brother was still fresh in her mind.

"...Who are you...?" She said, her voice quivering.

"You don't know?" He sat up straight in his chair, surprised, but quickly slouched back down, maintaining his collected composure. Weird feelings began to show themselves to Miranda as she stared at him. He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, watching her intently. "You should..."

"How can you be so calm in a place like this?!" Miranda suddenly yelled, for the first time in her life. She yelled at him for reasons she did not understand, wasn't he scared at all? She was so scared and angry, she was taking it out on him. He didn't seem to mind, and wasn't surprised at all at her outburst. "Doesn't this place get to you at all?!"

"Oh, it gets to me, all right..." He smirked slightly. "....I find it.... most fascinating..." He searched for the words and spoke them slowly.

"Those..._monsters_... What the hell are they?! What's going on-!" Miranda was interupted by the man who spoke over her ranting.

"_Monsters?_" He asked, confused, "...Is that what they look like to you...?" Miranda gasped, and backed away from him as far she she could, backing into the door behind her, her eyes never leaving his for a second. She speechlessly stared at him in awe, tears swelling behind her eyes again. The man only chuckled slightly, grinning at her. "....Its just a joke.... I'm lying to you, thats all..." Miranda still leaned aginast the door, not afraid of the thing waiting outside it anymore, all her attention focused on this man. She panted slightly, her heart pounding out of her chest.

"..._Who are you?!_" She demanded once she could force the words out of her pinched vocal cords.

"I am Vincent..." He answered politly. "Pleased to meet you," He smiled at her again. Miranda was so confused now, this man was impossible to pin down. He intrigued her yet filled her with unexplainable rage, all while maintaining a simple attraction she did not know why she had. He certainly did not deserve it, thats for sure.

"No....." Miranda spoke forcefully, suddenly pointing her gun at him. The smirk was quickly wiped from his face as he raised his hands slightly to show he wasn't going to try anything. Her seriousness surprised Vincent, she could tell by looking at his face. "_No_...." She said, her voice losing all the feirceness as she fell to her knees, dropping the gun in front of her. As much as she didn't want this man to see her cry, she couldn't help it, she felt so weak and helpless in this town. Vincent put his hands down and stood up, the chair scooting loudly against the hard floor. He sighed, shaking his head.

"Claudia's going to kill me for this..." He slowly walked over to her, helping her stand back up, and held her tightly in his arms. She let him, but kept her arms at her sides as she was pressed up against him. Her mind began flashing images before her eyes, the room she was in and Vincent dissapeared. She could still feel him, but all she could see was blurry images in her mind. Each was only seconds long, of her, of someone, with long black hair and gorgeous wings. She was standing on a peir, with Vincent... He didn't seem to mind her wings at all, they were both smiling. The scene changed again, the quality of the pictures in her mind was very poor, almost like an old video tape. She and Vincent were on a boat in the middle of a lake. His lips moved but she couldn't understand what was being said. The angel girl was leaning against Vincent, he was holding her, cradling her as she slowly fell asleep. Then he reached over her-

"Vincent!!! What the hell are you doing?!" Two more people walked into the room, one she recognized as Claudia. As soon as Vincent saw her he let go of Miranda. The man who walked in the room after Claudia's face lit up as soon as he spotted Miranda. She backed up as he inched closer to her.

"Miranda! Oh, how long I've waited for this moment!" He was a skinny, pale and ugly man with a high timid voice. His clothes were too tight for him as he slowly came closer and closer to her. Claudia stepped in between them.

"You've done you're job. Now don't get in the way!"

"...But you said I could have her if I got her to come to this town!! ..._You liar_!!" He started at Claudia, but she shoved him back through the door he came from.

"I told you not to get in the way, Stanley!" Standing in the doorway, she pulled out a gun and fired repeated. Once she stopped only the sound of a limp corpse hitting the ground was heard. She turned around, a smirk on her face, and closed the door. Miranda watched, eyes wide and scared. Claudia pocketed the gun and looked at her.

"So, how's your brother? oh, thats right..." Claudia had touched a nerve, no, not touched it, she had taken a knife and gouged at it, and she knew it. Miranda watched her with rage visible in her eyes.

"You...._You killed him?!?_" She stammered, not wanting to have to relive the terrible experience. Claudia sighed, closing her eyes.

"He thought you were in danger... they've been searching for you for a long time..." She said. "...I merely gave the order..." She was not smiling anymore, as if she did sympathize for the pure evil she had done.

"but..._Why?!_" Miranda was close to tears now, ready to attack Claudia and rip her to shreads, give her the fate her brother had been handed.

"To awaken Her... She had been dormant inside of you all your life... She can only be, in Silent Hill...But.." Claudia paused, "But, there is another reason... To fill you're heart with hatred.... it must be so, it must be this way..." Claudia suddenly grabbed Vincent, pulling him in front of her. Her gun cocked, the barrel pressed against his temple. Her other arm was around his neck so he would't move. Obviously her swift movement caught him off guard, and he raised his hands up slightly. "You two tried to keep your little affair a secret from me, but I figured it out..." She smirked evilly. "Show yourself, Evangelina!!" Vincent rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"What the hell are you talking about?! _This_ was never part of your plan-!" He argued

"Oh, but it was, all along... If she doesn't want to come out, then you'll die." Claudia said smugly, and turned to Miranda. "This is your last chance!! _Show yourself!!_" Claudia said, yelling viciously. The feeling of coldness returned to her again as she dropped to her knees, but stayed fully concious unlike every other time. More and more images flashed before her eyes of the angel and Vincent and the way Silent Hill used to be. Her head felt like it was going to explode, her hands clamped over her ears again to try to stop the sudden voices of the overlapping memmories, so many people talking all at once... she could only make out a few words here and there, as much as she tried not to.

Claudia and Vincent watched her struggling within herself on the floor, standing still as stone. Vincent was pale now, but Claudia seemed pleased. Her grin was soon replaced with a look of horror as two monstrous-looking creatures appeared on either side of Miranda. They were each the same, wereaing a white blood-stained dress and a giant metal pyramid resting on top of each of their shoulders. They made low, droning, moaning noises that peirced the ears of everyone in the room. As soon as they appeared in the flash of darkness, Miranda's visions ceased. She watched them near the two on the other side of the room, each looking horrified. Claudia's gun dropped to the ground and they both backed up as far as they could.

The two monsters inched towards them, each dragging a huge, bloody knife along the ground. As they moved the sound of metal-scraping-metal echoed throughout the room, low and high-pitched at the same time. The sound was amplified between the two, giving everyone a splitting headache.

"God...." She had never seen Claudia so scared. Without hesitation, she turned tail and bolted for the door, leaving it wide open as she left. Vincent, on the other hand, stood perfectly still, scared stiff. One of the monsters was nearly right in front of him now, the other staying closer to Miranda whos terrified face matched that of Vincents. The disgusting pyramid-monster raised it's great knife over his head, and began to bring it down swiftly at Vincent's face.

"_Stop!!!_" Miranda heard herself yell in a voice too powerful to be her own. The monster obeyed, stopping the blade inches away from Vincent's face, who had falled backwards in an attempt to get away from it. "Xuichilbara... Lobsel Vith... " She muttered to herself. The creature that had attacked Vincent set the blade of his knife back on the floor far from carefully, creating a huge dent from the weight of it. Vincent jumped, the blade being dropped in the floor inches in front of him, in between his spread out legs. The two glowing red monsters both turned their giant metal heads slightly back to Miranda, and disappeared in a whisp of darkness.

"_This can't be happening_..._ I made sure it wouldn't_..._" _Vincent was breathing heavy, eyes still wide and his glasses sliding down his nose. Slowly he got up, pushed them back up, and calmly left the room without a word.


	10. Chapter 10 Unusual

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Ten Unusual

The two in the room were silent, a woman and a man with messy brown hair. They walked in the door, looking around cautiously. The woman seemed to be limping slightly her left leg, her jeans ripped and torn and stained with crimson. They had entered a patient's room, number 212. A white doctor bed was in the corner of the room, the bed unmade and dirty. The man seemed a little bored, checking out the blonde girl in front of him who had walked in first. She wore tight jeans and a tank top, her thong sticking out the back, much to the man's amusement.

"Please, Lydia! I don't want to die a virgin!!" He whined, the girl rolled her eyes, and turned around. The man continued to check her out while she shook her head at him.

"Not for all the money in the world, Danny," She said, a trace of joking in her voice.

"But-! My truck! _Console me, dammit!!_" He argued.

"Yeah, I know about yer damn truck, I was in it!! Maybe you'll be able to get a girl when you learn to drive!!" She said more seriously this time. Their arguing ceased when a loud yell, followed by an echoing thump alerted them. It came from above, peices of the old ceiling crumbling and dust falling near the door they had just come in through. A huge dent was left in the ceiling, pertuding downwards. Something was above them...

"Maybe that was Wade..." Dan suggested. Lydia looked at him pathetically and shook her head again. "What?"

"Unless he dropped something _very_ heavy... I seriously doubt it, Dan..."

"You and yer damn logic..." Dan muttered under his breath. "He could have crashed on his skateboard-"

"Shutup, Dan," Lydia said glaring at him, obviously not very happy at the moment.

"It's not entirely imposs-"

"Shut_up_, Dan..." She was still looking up at the dent in the ceiling, but he had lost interest. He began to say something else, but was silenced once again by Lydia, who pointed up, her finger over her lips.

"_Listen!_" The were both silent, looking up at the ceiling. A soft voice could be heard, a woman, but just barely. They could not understand what she was saying. Her voice quickly stopped, and they were left in the silence once more.

"...Sounded like Miranda..." Dan muttered.

"Dan, Miranda's not even here! You're the only stupid careless one who crashed into that graveyard! ...They're probably already at Silent Hill, waiting for us to show up... I still can't beleive you crashed into a _graveyard_..."

"...The dead are taking revenge... On my truck..." He said, not a hint of humor in his voice.

"And why would a dead person want to take revenge on your truck? C'mon, Dan, stop being such an idiot..." Lydia said.

"Why you bustin my balls today, Lydia? Usually you're the only one who thinks I'm funny-!"

"Yeah, well we _usually_ don't crash into a graveyard, get stranded in some shithole of a town where, obviously, some kind of bomb went off that turned everone into flesh-eating zombies and monsters that try to kill us and take revenge on your truck!" She ranted hysterically.

"...Maybe it was a radiation bomb... or a nuke..." Dan suggested. For the first time Lydia just laughed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She did not tell him to shutup, for that was a lost cause. Dan sat down next to her on the bed and put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned on him, taking comfort in his presence. They sat there like that for a while, until the sound of someone's running footsteps was faint in the distance. They got louder and louder as a blurr of a black jacket and blonde hair ran past the open door. Dan jumped up and ran to the doorway, looking in the direction she ran in.

"Hey!" He called, but the footsteps did not stop getting farther and farther away. He stepped out of the doorway and out of Lydia's sight. She stood up, thinking he ran too and expected her to follow. The pain in her leg caused her to trip, falling over face-first. Something small and unnoticed fell to the floor. As she rushed to get up and follow Dan, her foot kicked it into the hallway. Yet she did not hear the sound of it sliding across the hard floor as she ran out of the room and smack into Dan. He caught her before she could fall again.

"Hey, babe, it's okay! I'm not going anywhere!" He said, not letting go of her.

"Who was that?" Lydia asked, trying to look around him, but she was gone.

"Dunno... Eh, she was probably ugly anyways,"

"I wonder what she was running from..." Lydia thought outloud, making herself very uneasy. She leaned in closer to Dan, and whispered something in his ear.

"...I've been thinking about what you said..." She backed up into the room, and he followed like an obedient dog, closing the door behind him.


	11. Chapter 11 Angel's Dragon

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Eleven Angel's Dragon

Vincent had caught up with Claudia, they both had met up outside the hospital. Claudia had made a barricade to keep the doors closed, just in case.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but _she can fly, _Claudia! Thats not going to stop her-" Vincent protested.

"But she doesn't know who she is yet! God... How did she summon the Gods?" Claudia ranted to herself. "It wasn't suposed to go like this at all..."

"You didn't really tell that monster to kill her brother did you...? You just lied to get her to hate you..." Vincent said smoothly, the grin returning to his face.

"No... Most of what I said was true... It did think she was in danger...How could I get those things to obey me?! Evangelina's the only one who can do that... Thank God she hasn't realized it yet..."

Miranda slowly got to her feet in the empty, silent room. For some reason it still gave off a dim, red tinted glow. She never felt alone anymore, knowing that someone was always with her. Instead she felt terrified of who was there with her, who she couldn't see. Those two monsters, why did they obey her? She told it to stop and it did, they seemed to be... protecting her... Something told her not to be afraid of them, that fear can only make things worse. Emotions of that nature would obstruct their vision...

Slowly she got to her feet, and inched towards the door both Claudia and Vincent had left through. She picked up the gun Claudia had dropped, it still had a few bullets in it. She walked outside the door. Whatever had been chasing her before was gone now, and there was no trace of it ever existing. She looked for the hole in the wall, but found none. Maybe it was all in her head?

She walked into the stairwell. The door to the second floor was open. She would have completely ignored it and just gotten out of the building if she hadn't spotted something glinting on the floor down the hall. She walked towards it, starring at it the entire time. She bent down and picked up a silver necklace. It was beautifully crafted, a shining silver cross on a silver chain. She recognized it... Lydia had one just like it and always wore it. Miranda pocketed the necklace and was about to turn and go back into the stairwell when she heard a noise coming from the closed door directly in front of where she had found the necklace. The sound made her jump. It didn't sound like a monster...

She put her hand on the doornob, readying the gun in her hand. She pushed open the door, catching a glipse of Danny on top of Lydia and emmediately slamming it shut again, dropping the gun and covering up her eyes with her hand. Dan and Lydia turned to face her, covering up themselves with the sheet as she turned away.

"Miranda!!" Lydia yelled as the door slammed, surprised.

"Jesus Christ, Dan! Can't you two think of a better place to do that?!" Miranda yelled through the door. She waitied a few minuted outside the door and they both emerged, clothes thrown on them messily and in a hurry.

"You forgot something," Dan teased, holding up her bra which she snatched from his hand and turned around, ripping off her shirt and putting it on.

"You two are disgusting..." Miranda scowlded, turning and walking back towards the stairwell. Dan followd, and Lydia rushed to catch up, still putting on her shirt.

"Wait! Miranda, what the hell are you doing here?! Is Alec here too?" Lydia asked, obviously still shocked and embarrased.

"Honestly, how could you ever get in the mood in a place like this?! That's the most revolting thing I've-"

"So this is Silent Hill... Yeah, I knew it..." Dan said to himself.

"What? Were actually in this place _on purpose_?! This _can't_ be Silent Hill!" Lydia argued, in denial.

"It is... so stop being so loud before you attract more monsters!" Miranda hissed at them. Danny and Lydia walked behind Miranda as they ventured back down to the first floor. The two were walking close to each other, Dan had his arm around Lydia's waist, which she took advantage of and used him as a sort of crutch to help her walk. Back on the first floor, they tried to get out. Panic entered each of them when they found the front door shut tight, not budging even when Dan tried to body slam it. He grit his teeth and rubbed his shoulder, cursing under his breath at his failed attempt to get the door down.

Suddenly Miranda froze, staring at a spot on the wall and straining to listen to a faint sound almost unhearable. Neither Dan nor Lydia had noticed it yet, and talked to each other about nasty, random things. Miranda shushed them as the sound got steadily louder and they too noticed it and fell silent. They each turned towards the far, dark corridor. The sound was coming from the darkness, the sound of something breathing heavily and growling softly.

Slowly it poked its head out of the shadows, revealing a grotesque head resembling some sort of animal, but much higher than they were expecting. The head seemed to grow as more of it was unveiled, the head sticking out far due to a very long neck. One giant claw crushed the floor in front of it as it was slammed down hard. It had a face similar to that of some sort of reptile, with a single horn petruding straight up in between its nostrils. Its long, sharp fangs were visible even with its mouth closed as two gleaming red eyes watched them from above. The three backed away as it came closer to them, the rest of it becoming visible. Its long body was snake-like in appearance, yet it had four legs, each with destructive black claws grinding the floor. The tip of its tail thrashed around aggressivly, tearing down walls on either side of it. Its entire body was ripped, scarred and bloody.

It leaned foreward and let out an ear-splitting roar, a fan around its entire neck that was flattened against it suddenly sprung out like a sharp, scaley lions mane and vibrated threateningly like a rattlesnake. They ran like thay had never ran before, towards the stairwell where the thing sure as hell couldn't fit. Even Lydia forgot the pain in her torn leg breifly as Dan pulled her along behind him. Running only encouraged the beast to do so, its body resembling the way a snake would move quickly but in the air, flowing gracefully for such a horrid creature. It left huge scars in the floor from its massive claws. It reached a claw out farther than expected, catching Lydia in her good leg. Dan noticed too late, still pulling her hard and got her out of the claw's grip, only not before it had ripped a hole clear through her calf. She cried out in pain, and Dan hurily picked her up, never stopping. Miranda raced up the stairs first, followed by Dan, who was noticably slower having to carry Lydia.

The monster tried to stick its head into the small doorway, ripping down the frame in the process. It seemed to pause for a split second, then as sudden as a flash of lightning, a jet of fire poured from its open mouth, curling around its fangs and being forced up the stairwell after them. Miranda flung open the door to the second floor and ran through it, leaving it open for Dan. She started to worry when he did not come through it right away, the sound of the flames burning getting louder. Dan was running, but not fast enough. He reached the doorway in time to throw Lydia to safety, but before he could run through, he was gone in a bright flash of red and orange, the flames engulfing him before he even had time to turn to see them. Miranda had to pull Lydia away from the door, for the fire was rushing out of it like a faucet.

Lying on her back, she kicked the door closed. The sound of the flames was loud, then abruptly stopped. Silence... The only sound now was Lydia's weeping, cradling her leg. One loud roar, and crashing footsteps fading away told them the monster was leaving. Miranda knelt over by Lydia, covered in blood from her leg. The blood was oozing out of her fast, a dark pool of it forming around where she lay, fallen.

"Lydia!" Miranda whispered, that being the loudest noise she could make with her picnhed throat.

"..._Dan_..._Where_..._is he_...." Blood poured out of Lydia's mouth as she choked on her words, but still she plead to see Dan one last time... Miranda stood up, walking towards the door. She touched the handle but emmediately wished she hadn't, it was very hot, steam rose from it and now her hand. She shook her hand a few times, having to move out of the way quickly for the door fell over towards her. It was lucky it had lasted this long...

She stepped into the stairwell. Everything was charred and black, small flairs still burned softly. The stairwell was still hot, it was like being inside an oven. She turned towards the hall that spiraled up at a sharp turn. Leaning with his back against the wall was the crumpled corpse of Danny, burned so badly she could barely make out the shape of him. She turned away, quickly going back through the doorway, unsure of what to tell Lydia.

But she didn't have to tell Lydia anything, for she lay motionless on the ground. The blood continued to seep out of her even though she was dead, her wound was so bad. Danny had sacrificed himself for nothing. Once again, Miranda had emerged from a seemingly hopeless situation without a scratch, and had lost her two best friends in the process.


	12. Chapter 12 Lonesome

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Twelve Lonesome

Miranda sat alone again in an empty patient's room, on the edge of the bed. Silent tears ran down her face as she held Lydia's necklace in her hands. She put it around her neck, honoring her fallen friend. The corpse of her two best friends and her brother were all on this floor, and she would have to pass at least two of them to get out. That and the monster on the first floor kept her stationed in this room, unsure of where to go or what to do now. She walked towards the window, looking out into the darkness. Maybe if she hadn't ran in front of her friends, but let them go ahead of her they'd still be here... Finding any way possible to blame herself, she layed down on the bed and cried herself to sleep...

"...So? What do you want me to do about it? You tried to kill me, I could care less what happends now! That's your problem!" The calm voice of Vincent spoke in such a tone that demanded respect all while not becoming too forceful.

"I wasn't going to kill you, I was only trying to get Evangelina to come out! I can't kill a preist!! Trust me, Vincent, it'll all be worth it in the end... When the angel awakens, she will lead us to paradise... What do you have to lose? Only you can make her come out... come out for good! Please, Vincent!" Claudia said.

"Fine! But I don't know how I can possibly-"

"All you have to do is get her to the altar... "

"What about that other guy? The one you promised to bring back his wife? You know you can't do that..."

"But he doesn't..."

"So you're just going to use him like you used Stanley, huh? I bet you're just using me, too... I refuse to be a part of this anymore..." He said flatly. His footsteps were heard walking away.

"Vincent!" Claudia yelled. "_Vincent!!"_

When Miranda awoke, she was still alone. She admitted to herself she had hoped someone would come to her in her sleep and just... be there when she woke up. Now she had to muster up enough courage to leave the hospital, passing her friends dead bodies and risking running into that giant monster again.

She stared down at her hand, still lying down in the bed, and examined her ring. it seemed so dull now, there was no light to catch it in just the right way and make it glimmer like her love for Alec once had. She hadn't seen him since she got to this dreadful place, part of her never wanted to again. But why? She asked herself, but no one answered. _Because of that man_..._You don't even know him but you love him more than Alec_..._ You let your brother and your best friends die_..._ You don't deserve to live_... She sat up, her hand on her head, trying to make that little voice dissapear.

Finally she decided she would accomplish nothing but a lonely, slow death staying in this room forever, and she got up and headed for the door. Taking in a deep breath, she pushed open the door and, trying to keep her eyes up, began to walk towards the stairwell. She couldn't help but glance down as she passed Lydia's corpse, it hadn't moved at all, she still wasn't breathing, nothing had changed. But then she realized the jammed door downstairs, she couldn't get out that way, and the fear of what would happen if she tried again was overwhelming. She decided to go up, up to the rooftop and jump. There was nothing left worth fighting for anyways. And in dreams, you always wake up before you hit the ground...

In the stairwell she ran past Dan's body and up, past the third floor and to the door leading to the rooftop. She pushed open the door that was so unlike the others, it was heavy and metal, and creaked noisily as she pushed it. She had just barely stepped onto the roof when something huge slammed down inches behind her, crushing the metal door like a tin can and staying there. Miranda whirled around to see a giant tail, and followed it to the same beast that had been downstairs and killed her friends. But... It seemed to be sleeping, curled up and taking up half of the rooftop, it's big tail now blocking the way out. It twitched every now and then like a sleeping puppy, dreaming about chasing cats and squirrels. It snored loudly, but it sounded like it was growling feircely.

Miranda backed up slowly, trying not to make a sound. She had put a lot of space in between them, she stood at the opposite side of the huge rooftop as the beast, watching its every movement. It watched her, too, with closed eyes as it slept, or so it felt like it. She searched for a tree close enough to the hospital she could climb down, but there were no trees on her side of the building. She looked down, off the edge of the roof. Suddenly three stories seemed very high... She turned back around to face the monster. He stirred in his sleep, causing even more damage to the roof. She jumped as he growled louder, and ran back to the door she had come out of, hiding behind the entrance to the rooftop just in time, her back against the cement wall.

The monster woke up, alert and looking around. Like a dog, he put his head up into the air before getting up and sniffed for a few seconds. He stood up slowly, his massive weight causing the roof to creak and bend inward as he moved. He walked off the roof and onto the ground as if it were nothing but a small step, and walked around behind the hospital, until the tip of his tail disapeared behind the corner. Miranda was frozen in place, scared stiff of that... thing, replaying the death of her friends over and over in her mind.

Miranda moved from her spot, terrified of not knowing where the creature had gone, it could be watching her, readying itself to go in for the kill... She peered over the edge one more time, this time on the side the monster had been sleeping on. There was a branch from a tree close enough, she might be able to jump and grab on to it... She decided she might as well, the entrance she had come from was a total wreck now anyways. Leaning forward, she pushed off from the edge and grabbed onto the treebranch. As she hung there in midair, she realized the only thing she had miscalcualted was whether or not the branch could support her weight. It could not.

The branch snapped in half, she landed on her back three stories down. Before she even had time to make sure everything was still attached, the branch that had broken fell onto her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She pushed it off and turned over onto her hands and knees, coughing until she could take in a breath of air. She stood up, one hand leaning on the side of the hospital to steady herself, the other clenched around Lydia's silver cross. Her legs were shaking uncontrollably. Where was there left for her to go? She could try to find Alec, or Vincent... Slowly she staggered onto the main road, not caring who or what may spot her, and away from the hospital that had taken the lives of so many she held dear...


	13. Chapter 13 Sea of Blood and Tears

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Thirteen Sea of Blood and Tears

"It turns out we don't need you after all... She's coming along much faster than I had assumed.." Claudia told a man who sat clutching his arm on the edge of a bed. He glared at her, his blonde hair not so perfect anymore, his clothes splattered with blood. A single trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and one of his eyes seemed to be bruised closed. At his feet was a fallen corpse of a monster, the gun he used to kill it was held loosely in the arm his other was cradling.

"What... the... hell..." He stared at her with raw hatred in his eyes. "You better not lay a finger on her... Or I'll..."

"You'll what? That monster seemd to get the best of you, now, didn't he? To be honest, you did better than I assumed-"

"You're good at miscalculating, you know?" He sneered at her. "Not so good at assuming-"

"That's enough out of you!!" She yelled, about to go at him but stopping herself. He did not once flinch or lower his gaze. Claudia took time to collect herself again, and smirked. "Well, it wont be long now before more monsters are attracted by your blood..." Her grin became wider and more pleased. "Lets hope you have enough bullets to last... I'm betting you don't..." And with that she left the smal, bloody, room, slamming the door behind her. The sound of the door locking from the outside made his heart skip a beat.

He got up and tried to open it hopelessly, banging on the door with his fist to get the woman's attention. No matter how much he yelled and cursed at the woman who had locked him in, the door did not open. She was probably long gone, and the only thing that would hear him would...definitly...kill him.

He went back over to the bed and sat down, obviously in pain from numerous wounds. He gazed out the third story window. Thick metal bars were vertically sealing him inside the room, keeping him from trying to jump down and most likely hurting himself further. Something caught his eye outside. Walking in plain view in the middle of the road was his fiance.

"Miranda!!!" He yelled over and over, calling to her as loud as he could. But she did not hear him. He longed to go see her, but she staggered on down the road. He continued to call to her, receiving not even acknowledge he existed. Suddenly his fiance dropped to her knees on the ground. Panic struck him like a slap in the face as he watched in horror his girl dying... She was coughing, choking out clear liquid onto the ground in gallons. Long, beautiful white silver wings sprouted out of her back and she stood back up. Her wings covered up most of her, and when they moved, her hair was down to her waist...

He started to bang his gun on the metal bars, the sound was loud and echoed throughout the walls. Miranda... noticed him, looking up at the window, but did not smile. Her mouth moved, but he could not lipread from so far away. The man smiled, at least having gotten her attention, and he loved her whether she had wings or not. He stuck both his hands out the barred window, out of breath, his gun dangling three storied in the air. A heart-stopping sound made him turn around, tearing his eyes from his girl.

The door had just been smashed down, and in it's place was a huge... monster... It was ripped and bloody and growling at him. In a panic he tried to bring his hand with the gun in it back into the room. The gun hit the metal bars instead of going through them and was knocked from his hand, plummeting three stories.

He yelled out in pain as the angel walked calmly past the building, a curtain of blood poured from the third story window, dripping down to the second and first floor quickly, then to the ground as his screams of pain ceased.

"_Miranda...Why..."_

Miranda did not remember falling asleep, only the screaming voices that filled her head as she had walked down the road, all calling her name... She remembered falling to the ground and not being able to breath... Still now, she was awake, but felt too weak to open her eyes. Something made her mind awaken faster than normal, she was moving, swaying back and forth like the tides on a beach... But she still did not open her eyes. They would not open, and her body did not want to move on its own.

Still she swayed back and forth, hearing the sound of water close to her ears. A single warm drop of water landed on her cheek. Her eye opened to see someone above her. She jumped up, realizing she was on a boat. The man with the oars that was steering the boat across the calm waters she recognized as the man who had first given her the gun back in the apartments.

"James! What the hell?!" She was suddenly terrified. Not of James, but of the water... She had almost fallen out of the boat when she awoke with a jolt. The boat was very small, she sat across from James as he paddled in silence. The lake seemed to stretch on forever, fog blinding them to any land that might be near.

"Miranda... I should have known it was you from the start... None of this would have happened if I had just gotten you the first time we met..."

"What are you talking about...?" Miranda said timidly, so scared of the water she was clutching the ever swaying seat under her. Images began to show themselves to Miranda again, in black and white like they were old and forgotten. They were of her, on the same boat, but with someone else... Without even realizing it, she was standing up. James had stopped paddling and was now only concerned with getting her to sit down. Her hands were covering her ears again, her eyes shut tight.

"Miranda, sit down!" James said, but she did not hear him.

"No...No!!!" She began to yell over and over again , shaking her head until she lost her balance. The second she began to fall, the images stopped and she watched herself getting closer to the surface of the water. The water was ice-cold. Something grabbed her from below and began to pull her down. She looked up at the bottom of the boat floating in the water above her, and saw James diving in after her. Whatever had her leg let go as James grabbed onto her and pulled her back to the surface, dragging her back into the boat.

"What the hell were you thinking?! Are you crazy?!" James said, his blonde hair now dull and wet, clinging to his forehead. They were both shivering, Miranda choking on the water until she caught her breath. James got back on the seat and began to paddle again. Miranda did not sit back in her seat but on the floor of the boat in between James legs, clinging onto one for dear life. He glared at her but didn't say anything. Miranda was whispering to herself, her voice tight and pinched as she talked into James's pantleg.

"I knew I should have tied you up..." James muttered.


	14. Chapter 14 Lost Cause

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Fourteen Lost Cause

The entire boatride Miranda did not move an inch from her spot clutching James's leg. He simply ignored her after a while. Once the boat was docked, he tried to stand up, but Miranda did not budge.

"Miranda, get up... You can get off the boat now..." But she did not so much as open her eyes. James bent down and wrenched her arms off his leg, forcing her to stand up. Quickly she wrapped her arms around his neck and did not lets go, breathing hard and frightened, starring over his shoulder to the icy depths.

"..._I don't like the water_..." She whispered as James carried her onto the docks.

"I can tell..." He muttered to himself. She loosened her grip the farther away from the water they got, but she would not let go of him until they were off the docks and back on solid ground.

"Where are we going...?" She asked, trying in vain to regain some of her dignity.

"To the chapel..." Miranda stopped dead in her tracks, James kept walking until he noticed she was behind him now and turned around to face her. "What? You don't want to go?" He asked. Miranda violently shook her head, one hand covering the other fist in front of her mouth, her elbows pressed against herself and almost touching each other. Every time he came closer to her, she inched away. "Come on, I saved your life, now you save my wife's..." He said. "I saved yours twice, as a matter of fact..." He tried to persuade her, as if lives were bargaining chips set out on this poker table called Silent Hill... You win some, you lose some... She still shook her head, knowing she was in debt to him.

"Look, you're coming with me... I don't want to hurt you, but if I have to, I will...." He said threateningly. "I'd do anything... to get Mary back..." Miranda sympathized with him, but nothing would get her to go to that chapel... Suddenly James pulled out his handgun and pointed it at her. "Don't make me do this, Miranda..."

"What good will it do you if I'm dead?!" She shreiked at him, angry and confused. He considered this and was silent for a while.

"I wasn't planning on going for a kill shot..." Miranda backed away, turning and running down the road opposite James. A loud gunshot sounded and a sharp pain in her leg caused her to fall over face first onto the hard ground. She turned over onto her back, clutching her leg like Lydia had before she died... The pain must have shut down her brain for a few seconds, for when she opened her eyes James was standing above her, pocketing the gun in his dark green jacket. He bent down to her, apolagizing the entire time, and picked her up. She struggled at first, but the pain was overwhelming. Her own blood pulsed out of the wound in her leg and got all over the ground and James's clothes.

After a while of walking, Miranda in James's arms, she just stopped trying. Death sounded good right about now... Her arms hung down loosely, her head back as she stared straight up into nothing, the thick fog blocking out the sky. Her leg still did not stop bleeding, she couldn't even feel it anymore, couldn't even feel James carrying her... He set her down on a bench, worried that he had accidentally killed her on purpose. He took out some bandages and wrapped her leg in them tightly to stop the bleeding. The blood soaked through and stained the white bandages, but he picked her back up and continued towards the chapel anyways.

"Miranda..." He stared. She did not respond, her eyes fixed on nothing still, her mouth open slightly.

"I....can't....help....you....Jam...es...." She said in betwen gasps for breath.

"What are you talking about? All I have to do is bring you to the chapel... Thats the only part where you come in..." He told her, unbeleiving he just shot a young girl in the leg for nothing. Part of him never believed that woman could bring his wife back, but the small part that did... overcame him... with every step he was regretting what he did more and more, uncertainty killing him inside.

He stopped at the front door to the great chapel, wondering whether he would burst into flames if he set foot inside. He decided to go in, it was too late to turn back now. He couldn't take back the bullet he had put inside the girl in his arms...

Kicking open the doors, for his hands were full, he saw the woman standing at the altar calmly, candles around her lit and a giant cross behind her. A man with brown hair who was lying bored on one of the pews bolted up and looked at him. James walked inside, the doors swinging closed behind him. He passed the man on the pew and walked up to the blonde woman.

"I brought her.... just like you said... Now bring back Mary..." he demanded. Claudia smiled, looking at Miranda in his arms.

"Put her down and go to the Lakeveiw Hotel... Mary's waiting for you there..." James hesitated, not knowing if he could trust this woman. He glanced back at the apathetic man, who offered no support. Gently he set down Miranda on the floor, and turned and walked away. Vincent leaned back down, closing his eyes.

"You're sick, Claudia... you know that?" He smirked, still laying down on the pew. "...What do you plan on doing with that girl anyways, huh?!" He said. The woman did not answer him. He sat up and looked at her. She was dragging Miranda to the altar. "Hey! What are you doing?!" He stood up, walking up to her on the opposite side of the altar. She still did not answer him, But made Miranda stand up, and leaned her against the giant cross. She chained her arms out horizontally below the arms of the cross, putting chains around her body as well. "Claudia, what the hell are you doing?!" Claudia walked behind the cross and began pulling tightly on the chains, lifting Miranda off the ground so she was pressed against it, almost crucified...

The chains kept tightening, pinching Miranda's skin and pressing her against the cross more and more tightly. The chains sliced into her skin, blood from the wounds began to drip down the cross. One chain went tightly across her neck, choking her, blood slowly leaking from under it.

"I'm going to find out what killed her twenty years ago... Evangelina! _How did you die?!_" She yelled up to her.

"This is ridiculous! Claudia, you've lost your mind..." Vincent said irritably. Suddenly Miranda began feeling that same coldness... but this time she was too weak to fight it... She felt something like two blades stabbing her back and thought they had come out of the cross. She felt her hair drape down to her arms, brushing against them, something she had never felt before...


	15. Chapter 15 Last Breath

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Fifteen Last Breath

Claudia and Vincent watched in awe as before their eyes Evangelina was ressurected, her great wings unfolding from her back and becoming entangled in the mass of chains holding her to the cross. She struggled against them madly, the chains clinking against each other and the cross.

"What are you doing...? No..._No_.... Don't let go, please!!!" She began crying, whispering at first. Her whispers became whimpering screams. Claudia watched silently, Vincent gawked open mouthed and wide-eyed, slowly backing up... "Please don't let go....._No_..._No_..." She repeated over and over again in her pathetic state, the chains only cutting into her skin deeper as she strugged.

"Evangelina, who killed you?" Claudia asked, yelling over her pleas. She stared into Vincent's eyes, and seemed to realize where she was, escaping from her memory. She looked around confusedly, then once she saw Claudia her confusion was replaced with hatred.

"Claudia! What's the meaning of this?! Let me down!!" Claudia looked displeased, but Vincent sighed in relief. Claudia scowled at not finding out what she wanted before Evangelina was fully ressurected. Evangelina's eyes came to rest on Vincent, her anger replaced with shock, starring at him. "Vincent?!" She whispered. Claudia ignored her, and smiled...

"Mary!" James said, on the rooftop of Lakeview Hotel. A woman in a light pink dress was leaning on a metal support beam near the edge of the roof, starring off onto the water in the horizon. James repeated her name, but she did not respond. He walked hesitantly towards her, and she looked over her shoulder behind her. Coughing once, she turned back towards the water, uninterested. She the stood up straight, letting got of the support beam and spreading out her arms at her sides. Slowly she began to fall forewards...

"_No!!! Mary!_" James called to her as she plummeted downwards, falling into nothingness concealed by fog. James ran to the edge, dropping down onto his knees and looking down. There was nothing... There was never anything there... He was a fool to listen to that woman, all he managed to do was hurt a young girl for his own selfish wants, ruining her life and crippling her, if she didn't die from blood loss...

"Now that she has been resurrected, the Angel will lead all of mankind to salvation!" Claudia ranted. "With all the pain and hate held in her heart she will pave the road to paradise, the road made with the blood of sinners, draining them of their sins and wrongdoings! After the Judgment and Atonement-"

"Quiet, human! Dare you speak in my presence?! With all your sins I could pave the road on your blood alone... " Evangelina hissed at Claudia, who was speechless at her anger.

"Like God she can have a heart of gold and a vengeful wrath... I apoligize for my sins, and do not expect to be saved... But for the sake of mankind..."

"Mankind can all drown in their sins... I only care about one man..." Evangelina spoke softly. Claudia turned to Vincent with sheer hatred in her eyes.

"You... You despicable...Monster!! You single-handedly _destroyed_ mankind's chance of refuge!!!" Claudia was yelling louder and harsher than she ever had, walking towards Vincent who backed up, trying not to laugh. She took out a long knife and held it above her head, her eyes gleaming with vengence. Vincent kept backing up as the rage inside Evangelina built up. She let out a yell, unfolding her wings hard, breaking the chain in two and falling back down to the floor onto her feet, walking towards Claudia with her wings spread wide and threatening, barely fitting in the interior of the chapel.

"_Don't touch him!!"_ She roared, to be ignored by Claudia who kept nearing Vincent. He was running out of room to back up, the distance between them steadily decreasing...

"Mary... Without you, I just... Can't go on... Soon... We can be together..." James muttered over the sound of a car starting. The sound of gears shifting drowned out his voice as the engine became a loud, blaring echo, getting louder as the speedometer's needle climbed higher and higher. For a few seconds the engine was deafening, then silence. The last of James's air broke the surface of the water as the car sunk deeper and deeper. The headlights shone upon a bottomless pit as it kept sinking steadily. From out of the darkness it appeared, a beautiful angel was illuminated at the bottom of the lake. The closer James got to it, the more it decayed right before his eyes as he squinted to see through the cold waters. Was it just an illusion? Her clothes decayed as well, leaving nothing but bones with rags hanging loosely from them. His car hit the angel's skeleton as it settled on the bottom of the lake, she was hit in the side. Her right arm broke off, landing on the hood of the car, bones elsewhere heard snapping and James couldn't hold his breath anymore, the coldness numbing him to sleep...

As Evangelina went to grab Claudia's arm, she suddnely let out a horrifying shreik. She fell to the ground, her right arm just... falling off, bleeding profusely, bones cracking painfully in her right leg. Claudia hesitated, looking down at her. Vincent was distracted as well, and turned back to Claudia a second too late. She drove the knife into his chest and let go, leaving the blade jammed inside him, blood drenching his front.

"_Nooo!!!_" Evangelina screamed, dragging herself over to where Vincent lay on the ground on his back, gasping for breath. Claudia stood not far away, her hands covered in blood. Evangelina lifted Vincent's head and rested it in her lap, running her fingers through his hair with the hand she had left. Blood began to trickle out of his mouth. Slowly she turned and glared at Claudia, who backed up, readying herself to bolt for the door. "_You shall burn in Hell, human!!! Velgauder!!"_ She yelled harshly. Claudia smiled and shook her head.

"You mean that little pet of yours? What's he going to do, bite at my ankles?" She chuckled and turned around, walking towards the doors. Once she had gotten within a few feet of them they suddenly burst open, flying off the hinges and smashing against the far wall. In the doorway stood the giant beast from the hospital, just barely sticking his head through as his neck scraped against the doorframe. Claudia stood there like a deer in headlights, mouth hung open and eyes wide. Velgauder let out a roar so loud and powerful Claudia's jacket and hair blew straight backwards from the wind, almost losing balance herself.

"Why don't you bite at her ankles, Velgauder...?" The dragon opened it's huge mouth, engulfing Claudia and with one bite she was gone, not even able to scream.

"Eva...." Vincent whispered. She turned back to him, her one hand supporting his head.

"Don't die, Vincent, please...." She whipsered back.

"Eva.... Why.... do you still....love me...? I....k...." He was forced to stop talking as blood pushed its way up his throat and he choked on it.

"I know... When I gave you my heart... I didn't intend on taking it back.... ever..." For the first time, a tear fell from the angel's face, landing on Vincent's as he struggled to take his last breath. It rolled down his cheek, past the blood from his mouth and onto the floor. He stared up at the ceiling, his chest not moving up and down when he breathed anymore. She lay next to his body for a long time, mourning.

Eva finally stood up, walking towards the patient Velgauder, limping terribly on her right leg. He waited with his head resting on the floor of that chapel until she walked over to him. Behind her two Valtiel began to drag Vincent's body away

"_Leave him!_" She ordered, and they obediently did so, crawling back into the shadows. Turning back to Velgauder, she pet his giant head. He removed it from the doorway so she could get out and walked next to her slowly as she limped down the road. "We're going... to Toluca Lake..." She spread out her wings and took flight, her dragon flowing gracefully on the ground below, looking like a snake from the foggy skies.


	16. Chapter 16 Change of Heart

The Object of My Desire

Chapter Sixteen Change of Heart

Evangelina landed on the docks, starring out onto the waters surface. Her dragon ran behind her in the distance, not slowing down as it neared the water and did a magnificent dive into the cold depths.

"I was blinded by petty human emotions... Thats why I couldn't sense his intentions... I was such a fool...." She whispered to herself, "Be careful with it..." She said in a low voice, her long hair blowing from the wind of him running past her.

The phone rang on the table next to a bed in the dark. An arm bent over and picked it up on the first ring.

"...Speak." A feminine voice said.

"I'll try that again." A male voice said on the other end of the phone, and hung up. The woman cursed under her breath, listening to the dial tone and hanging up the phone. It rang a few second later.

"....Hello?" She paused, searching for the word he had told her to always use with a phone, sounding as polite as she possible could.

"Thats better..." The same man said, and even though she couldn't see him she knew he was smiling.

"Vincent, why are you calling me in the middle of the night? I was trying to sleep!" The woman said jokingly.

"You know you dont sleep, Eva..."

"I know.. But I want to be like you, so I tried..."

"You want to be like me? Why? You're an Angel, for crying out loud! You're not suposed to want to be human-"

"I don't! I... Oh, nevermind... What do you want?" She gave up trying to explain herself.

"Meet me at the docks...."

"When?"

"Now... And don't tell anyone..."

"Okay." She said and hung up, getting out of bed. She stretched, like she had seen Vincent do whenever he wakes up, one of her wings stretching too far and shattering the window in her small room. She decided to fly out that window anyways, since she had broken it open. If she walked down the hall and downstairs, she would be sure to wake someone up, and the preists who were up all night anyways would see her and most likely follow her. Vincent had told her not to tell anymone, and she would keep her promise.

She jumped out the second story window, unfolding her wings when she got all the way out. She nearly touched the ground, flapping her wings and kicking up dust as she soared towards the docks.

Vincent was already there when she was close enough to see him untieing a boat. He surely couldn't have beaten her there... He saw her flying in the distance and stood up, the rope still in his hands. She landed in his arms, smiling at him brightly.

"Hello!" She sang. He smirked back at her, shushing her and reminding her to be quiet. "Sorry!"

"Happy to see me?"

"Awake, yes... Nightime is so lonely... We should do this more often!" She said, still in Vincent's arms.

"Once is plenty for me..." He muttered to himself.

"Where are we going? The water's pretty cold, especially at night..." Eva didn't notice his remark, disregarding it if she had heard it to make it not true.

"Oh, nowhere, really... I just felt like going for a boatride under the moon and thought of you..." He said, grinning at her. She smiled as they got in the boat and she sat down across from him as he paddled them into the center of the huge lake, out of sight of anyone who happened to gaze out onto the water's surface. Eva shivered, the coldness of the water rising above it into the night air. She scooted closer to Vincent and leaned on his chest, closing her eyes. She took no notice of the large cement block that Vincent sat on, figuring the seat had broken and that was the replacement, despite the fact it made the boat sink into the water a few inches deeper than it should have.

As she leaned on him, her breathing and her heart slowled down. She had never felt what she was now, as she fell asleap and lost consiousness for the first time...

"Eva?" Vincent asked, brushing her hair away from her sleeping face. Quickly he reached over her, grabbing the long coiled rope that had once tied the boat to the docks, the one he was supposed to leave tied there, not on the boat. He tied one end to the cement block and the other around Eva's legs, binding them together. She did not stir.

He heaved the cement block into the water, grabbing onto her wrists as she was completely submerged in the icy water. He pulled her out from the waist up, she awoke with a jolt at feeling the cold water, gasping once she was above the surface.

"I'm sorry, Eva..." He said as she hung halfway in the water.

"What are you doing?!" She cried out in a panic. "No...! Please, don't let go!!" She tried to flap her wings and fly, but all that managed to do was spash water. "_No_..._ No!!_ _Don't let go, please! Please, no_...." She put up less of a fight, the freezing water numbing her muscles and making her feel weak and tired. Something was pulling her below the water, it was so heavy it felt as if her legs were being pulled out of their sockets. "_No_....._No_...." She repeated over and over, whimpering. Vincent looked at her with regret held in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Eva... I lied to you... I didn't love you, I just needed you to trust me... But... now I do............. I just can't... Let it happen... What you and Claudia have planned..." He spoke over her pleas.

".....I love you...." He let go of her wrists and she sank, quickly dissapearing under the surface. She watched from below as the bottom of the boat became smaller and smaller the further she was dragged down. No one dove off the boat to save her, either. At the bottom of the lake she waited for her love to forgive her for whatever she had done to make him angry, her body decaying until only a skeleton was left, and still she waited. One day all the fish in the lake floated to the surface, belly-up. Like a disease, it spread throughout the town, killing anything living, trees, animals, people... It decayed their souls, leaving only an empty shell matching their insides walking the ground she could not, searching for her love...


End file.
